SEPTEMBER 25, 1995

Ferrari V10 will test shortly

FERRARI'S exciting new V10 engine - which has been testing on the dynamometers at Maranello since the end of May - is due to be tested in a car for the first time within the next few days. Ferrari test driver Nicola Larini is expected to be the man to run the new engine for the first time.

The V10 is the work of a team of engineers led by Frenchman Gilles Simon, who did important design work on Peugeot V10 engines in sportscar racing. He was poached from Peugeot last year along with Christophe Marie, an expert in the design of pneumatic valve systems. In addition, Ferrari has recently lured away one of Renault Sport's V10 engineers Noel Canvy, the first man to be poached from Bernard Dudot's engineering team at Viry-Chatillon for six years.

Ferrari has also been the victim of poaching by other manufacturers, designer Massimo de Novelis having been hired away from Ferrari by Ilmor.

Although everyone is assuming that Ferrari will race the V10 next year, the V12 development programs have not been abandoned. In fact, Ferrari has three teams of engineers working on different evolutions of the engine. The current V12 is the work of Luca Marmiroli.

All this activity is being coordinated by the team's head of engine design Paolo Martinelli, who replaced Claudio Lombardi earlier this year. In addition to the various engine projects, Martinelli also controls engine research and development, which is headed by Osamu Goto.